Since bowling lanes are most commonly fabricated from wood or laminated wood surfaces, they must be conditioned, i.e., treated with a liquid oil based dressing, on a daily basis to prevent the friction of a bowling ball striking and rolling along the bowling lane from scorching the surface thereof. The American Bowling Congress (ABC) requires the dressing on the lane surface to be of approximately uniform distribution. FIG. 8a is illustrative of a uniformly applied layer of lane conditioning material. FIG. 8b depicts the profile of lane conditioning material, applied pursuant to ABC specifications, but tapered to the transverse extremities of the bowling lane due to the inherent inability of the bowling lane to maintain a constant profile of conditioning material adjacent the gutters.
The ABC has discovered that many bowling center proprietors practice a technique known as "lane blocking". Lane blocking is accomplished by building-up lane conditioning materials in specified areas on a bowling lane surface to guide or steer a bowling ball into the strike "pocket" (that portion of the lane which affords the bowler the greatest opportunity of achieving a high score). Bowling center proprietors believe that the more rewarding the game of bowling is made, the more likely the bowler will return. Moreover, the ABC has a policy of checking bowling lane conditions prior to certifying individual high scores or league high scores.
Researching and testing have proven the margin of error in releasing a bowling ball to generate a strike on a properly conditioned lane, is approximately two boards (a lane is generally made of 39 one-inch longitudinally elongated boards). However, the margin of error, for releasing the ball in the appropriate strike path may be increased to as much as six boards when bowling on a blocked lane.
It is desirable that a ball delivered with side spin down a normally conditioned bowling lane surface hook into the pocket at a specific angle related to the axis of a bowling lane. With a blocked lane, where more conditioner has been placed in one portion of the lane than other portions (see FIGS. 8c and 8d which depict the profile of blocked lanes with excess conditioner applied adjacent the center area), the ball hooks in the dry areas until it contacts the more heavily conditioned portions. The heavily conditioned portions are positioned in such a way as to direct the ball into the strike pocket at said specific angle. The bowling ball will react accordingly and slide in the slippery (highly conditioned) areas and hook in high friction (minimally conditioned) areas.
Methods currently employed by the ABC to certify lane conditions are deficient. The ABC may not be able to inspect a lane immediately after a high score has been bowled, thereby providing proprietors with sufficient time to change the conditions on their lanes prior to inspection by an ABC representative.
Even in those instances in which ABC representatives arrive quickly, the ineptitude of available tests make accurate lane conditioning examination impossible. Presently only visual and smear or tactile tests are available for use by ABC representatives to determine the distribution and thickness of lane conditioner on the bowling lane surface. The visual test consists of looking at the reflection of light from the bowling lane surface; the greater the light reflected from the surface, the more conditioner has been applied to the surface.
In the smear or tactile test, the inspector slides his fingertips across the lane surface for a sensory indication of the surface feel. If the lane feels slippery, it is oily.
A "lane analyzer" is a device used to graphically demonstrate the results of the smear and tactile tests. It determines lane conditions based on the friction (the more conditioner, the less friction) encountered by a slider member placed in contact with the lane surface. Obviously, if the member slides one inch on some areas of the lane and five inches on other areas, there is a difference in friction on the lane surface. By taking readings on every board across the lane, the results can be plotted on a graph. However, the lane analyzer is not an official measuring device because readings vary when it is used on different lane finishings and with different lane dressings. Further, a heavy oil buildup in certain areas provides a "snow-plow" effect and tends to slow down the member. Therefore, when ABC personnel check lane conditions following a high score, only the smear and visual tests are available to determine if the lanes were properly conditioned. However, in these tests human judgment is a factor which renders all decisions questionable, and just as importantly, no permanent record is produced to certify the results thereof.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method to quantitatively measure the cross-sectional profile of lane conditioners applied to a bowling lane.
It is further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for transferring the lane conditioning profile onto a strip for analysis and evaluation at a later time.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for establishing a permanent record of the profile and distribution of conditioning materials on a bowling lane surface, the apparatus adapted to be quickly and easily set-up and the method adapted to be employed by any reasonably skilled maintenance person.
And it is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for evaluating and analyzing the profile of conditioning materials on a bowling lane surface, the apparatus and method eliminating all human judgment factors.
And yet, a still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for determining the thickness and distribution of conditioner on a bowling lane surface, the apparatus requiring low maintenance, having simple design features and having a long, useful life.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the detailed description of the drawings and claims which follow.
While the essence of the invention described herein is the development of a suitable method for determining whether a bowling lane has been improperly conditioned and the development of hardware for transferring and recording the profile of conditioning materials applied to the surface of the bowling lane, it must be recognized that this involves only the first stage in lane analysis. To complete the lane analysis it is contemplated that the lane conditioning material be treated with a flourescent brightening additive, such as UVITEX OB (a Registered Trademark of the Ciba-Geigy Company) and having a maximum visible fluorescence at 435 nanometers and a maximum ultra-violet absorption at 375 nanometers. After the treated conditioner is absorbed by the absorbent strip, as described herein, the strip is analyzed under ultra-violet light. Since a relationship exists between the proportion of fluorescent brightening additive on the strip and the intensity of light emanating from the additive absorbed by the strip, the intensity of light emanation from the additive absorbed by the strip can be correlated with the thickness and distribution of the lane conditioning material on the bowling lane surface. The analysis of the strip under ultra-violet light forms the basis of another patent application, filed simultaneously herewith, of common assignment and entitled, "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANALYZING CONDITIONER ON A BOWLING LANE SURFACE".
Although not specifically described, it should be apparent that the lane conditioning material could be formulated with a different type of tracer such as a metal, optically active or magnetic additive instead of the fluorescent additive described herein. The metal, optically active or magnetic additive could then be analyzed using metallic, polarized or magnetic detection equipment. Further, although photovoltaic equipment is described herein as the preferred apparatus for evaluating the lane conditioning material sample, it should be obvious that other types of evaluating apparatus such as a fluoroscope or an infra-red spectrometer could be employed without departing from the spirt and scope of the present invention. It must therefore be realized that the purpose of the present invention is to accurately transfer and permanently record, for later analysis and evaluation, the profile of conditioning material on the surface of a bowling lane. Whether that objective is accomplished with magnetic, optically active or metallic additives and regardless of the evaluation equipment employed, it is the transfer and removal equipment which forms the basis for this application.